he's also one of the fixtures on the #3 PP in the league. so even if he's not going to be a "QB", it's hard to dispute that he should be on the ice. the only things he should be working on are knowing when to dial back the offense and when to not go in full brat mode against philly. other then that, he's gold.

he's also one of the fixtures on the #3 PP in the league. so even if he's not going to be a "QB", it's hard to dispute that he should be on the ice. the only things he should be working on are knowing when to dial back the offense and when to not go in full brat mode against philly. other then that, he's gold.

As he's matured, his passing has gone from really good to silky smooth. There aren't many puck movers as good as him right now... If he could learn how to sneak his shot through instead of trying to bring the cannon each time, I think he'd be a perfect QB.

While I don't discount the possibility of trading Letang at some point like Whitney/Goligoski, the difference right now is none of the Pens young D-prospects are ready to take over for Letang. When we traded Whitney, we had Gonchar on the roster and Goligoski showing signs of improving. Letang was also in the mix, just not to the level he is today. When we traded Gogo, Letang had proven he was ready and could be that offensive puck moving defensemen. Despres isn't going to replace Letang at this point. I don't see Letang going anywhere until one of our other D-men like Morrow, Pouliot, or Maata are on the Pens blue line and showing improvement over a few years.

the only only only way that this team considers moving letang is if we have another meltdown in the playoffs against philly with letang completely losing his f'ing mind again. but even then, i wouldn't expect anything to happen.

shmenguin wrote:the only only only way that this team considers moving letang is if we have another meltdown in the playoffs against philly with letang completely losing his f'ing mind again. but even then, i wouldn't expect anything to happen.

shmenguin wrote:the only only only way that this team considers moving letang is if we have another meltdown in the playoffs against philly with letang completely losing his f'ing mind again. but even then, i wouldn't expect anything to happen.

shmenguin wrote:the only only only way that this team considers moving letang is if we have another meltdown in the playoffs against philly with letang completely losing his f'ing mind again. but even then, i wouldn't expect anything to happen.

Or if he has unreasonable salary demands....

this team will pay him his 6-6.5 mill.

They might..but finding room to nearly double his current $3.5 million cap hit will prove to be much more difficult than finding room to keep Malkin around at a slight increase. If they feel a deal can't be reached that will benefit both player and team, Letang will be traded this summer for a package that includes one or two NHL-ready/NHL-established players and a high end prospect...if not more.

I want Letang to be a part of this team moving forward, but it just might not be possible.

shmenguin wrote:the only only only way that this team considers moving letang is if we have another meltdown in the playoffs against philly with letang completely losing his f'ing mind again. but even then, i wouldn't expect anything to happen.

Or if he has unreasonable salary demands....

this team will pay him his 6-6.5 mill.

They might..but finding room to nearly double his current $3.5 million cap hit will prove to be much more difficult than finding room to keep Malkin around at a slight increase. If they feel a deal can't be reached that will benefit both player and team, Letang will be traded this summer for a package that includes one or two NHL-ready/NHL-established players and a high end prospect...if not more.

I want Letang to be a part of this team moving forward, but it just might not be possible.

you save a couple mill off the bat by replacing niskanen with despres. and maybe orpik would take a pay cut. part of the value of drafting all these d-men is that they'll be cheap for a few years. and we just need 2 of them 2 be top 4 capable in a couple years, and we'll be able to fill our d lineup and sign letang at a high price.

shmenguin wrote:the only only only way that this team considers moving letang is if we have another meltdown in the playoffs against philly with letang completely losing his f'ing mind again. but even then, i wouldn't expect anything to happen.

Or if he has unreasonable salary demands....

this team will pay him his 6-6.5 mill.

They might..but finding room to nearly double his current $3.5 million cap hit will prove to be much more difficult than finding room to keep Malkin around at a slight increase. If they feel a deal can't be reached that will benefit both player and team, Letang will be traded this summer for a package that includes one or two NHL-ready/NHL-established players and a high end prospect...if not more.

I want Letang to be a part of this team moving forward, but it just might not be possible.

You, as an organization, have to understand that keeping Letang means letting Orpik (and to a lesser extent Niskanen) walk at the end of his contract and being OK with that.

shmenguin wrote:the only only only way that this team considers moving letang is if we have another meltdown in the playoffs against philly with letang completely losing his f'ing mind again. but even then, i wouldn't expect anything to happen.

Or if he has unreasonable salary demands....

this team will pay him his 6-6.5 mill.

They might..but finding room to nearly double his current $3.5 million cap hit will prove to be much more difficult than finding room to keep Malkin around at a slight increase. If they feel a deal can't be reached that will benefit both player and team, Letang will be traded this summer for a package that includes one or two NHL-ready/NHL-established players and a high end prospect...if not more.

I want Letang to be a part of this team moving forward, but it just might not be possible.

The Pens don't have a defenseman whose absence would devastate me. It would be ideal to keep him, but if they have to trade him, I think I would be happy with the return they'd be able to get.

shmenguin wrote:the only only only way that this team considers moving letang is if we have another meltdown in the playoffs against philly with letang completely losing his f'ing mind again. but even then, i wouldn't expect anything to happen.

Or if he has unreasonable salary demands....

this team will pay him his 6-6.5 mill.

They might..but finding room to nearly double his current $3.5 million cap hit will prove to be much more difficult than finding room to keep Malkin around at a slight increase. If they feel a deal can't be reached that will benefit both player and team, Letang will be traded this summer for a package that includes one or two NHL-ready/NHL-established players and a high end prospect...if not more.

I want Letang to be a part of this team moving forward, but it just might not be possible.

You, as an organization, have to understand that keeping Letang means letting Orpik (and to a lesser extent Niskanen) walk at the end of his contract and being OK with that.

If the question is Letang or Orpik, it's Letang every day of the week and twice on Sunday. But it's not as simple as just letting a veteran, physical, shut-down type defenseman walk and filling the gaps with unproven rookies who might not even be ready. So letting Orpik walk then means another defender likely has to be signed, which means more money against the cap.

I'm not at all advocating trading Letang, but this, by no means, will be a simple signing.

Defence21 wrote:If the question is Letang or Orpik, it's Letang every day of the week and twice on Sunday. But it's not as simple as just letting a veteran, physical, shut-down type defenseman walk and filling the gaps with unproven rookies who might not even be ready. So letting Orpik walk then means another defender likely has to be signed, which means more money against the cap.

I'm not at all advocating trading Letang, but this, by no means, will be a simple signing.

The only NHL defenseman they have under contract for that year is Paul Martin. Despres will be an RFA assuming he doesn't get traded. Everyone else is off the books. I'm assuming Bortuzzo will probably be around since he will be RFA this summer. That means you have Martin, Bortuzzo, Despres, Letang. Letang will be at least Martin's contract but lets say $6M so you have $11M tied up in 2 defenders. You really can't afford another $3M+ guy back there. You hope that is a solid enough top 4 by then and you have a couple younger guys who can play some lower minutes (Dumoulin and Morrow) and fill one more vet who is cheaper. Maybe Brooks takes $2M to stay here but who knows. Its going to be hard to fit Orpik if Letang gets his deal. $6M, $5M, $2M for Despres? $1M for Bortuzzo? Thats $14M with a salary cap that will be lower than it is this year in all likelyhood. Add $0.9 for both Dumoulin and Morrow and you are at roughly $16M.

You need to fill 13 roster spots with whatever cap space is left. Worst case scenario is a $64M cap and we have $20M for 13 spots or $1.5M per player... yikes. Hopefully they are back up to say $67M which nets us another $300k per player. Its going to be tough to afford anyone making more than $3M and field a full roster.

Edit: forgot that Bennett will still be on EL for $0.9M so thats 1 less roster spot but the point stands.

Defence21 wrote:If the question is Letang or Orpik, it's Letang every day of the week and twice on Sunday. But it's not as simple as just letting a veteran, physical, shut-down type defenseman walk and filling the gaps with unproven rookies who might not even be ready. So letting Orpik walk then means another defender likely has to be signed, which means more money against the cap.

I'm not at all advocating trading Letang, but this, by no means, will be a simple signing.

The only NHL defenseman they have under contract for that year is Paul Martin. Despres will be an RFA assuming he doesn't get traded. Everyone else is off the books. I'm assuming Bortuzzo will probably be around since he will be RFA this summer. That means you have Martin, Bortuzzo, Despres, Letang. Letang will be at least Martin's contract but lets say $6M so you have $11M tied up in 2 defenders. You really can't afford another $3M+ guy back there. You hope that is a solid enough top 4 by then and you have a couple younger guys who can play some lower minutes (Dumoulin and Morrow) and fill one more vet who is cheaper. Maybe Brooks takes $2M to stay here but who knows. Its going to be hard to fit Orpik if Letang gets his deal. $6M, $5M, $2M for Despres? $1M for Bortuzzo? Thats $14M with a salary cap that will be lower than it is this year in all likelyhood. Add $0.9 for both Dumoulin and Morrow and you are at roughly $16M.

You need to fill 13 roster spots with whatever cap space is left. Worst case scenario is a $64M cap and we have $20M for 13 spots or $1.5M per player... yikes. Hopefully they are back up to say $67M which nets us another $300k per player. Its going to be tough to afford anyone making more than $3M and field a full roster.

Edit: forgot that Bennett will still be on EL for $0.9M so thats 1 less roster spot but the point stands.

Can't have Letang and Malkin after next year. Despres and/or Morrow will be ready. I think it's Letang, but I'm going to enjoy him while he's here. He is frustratingly magnificent.

Spending $16m on defense is relatively mid-low range for teams. The Canucks spend @ $22m, the Pens spend @ $17m (and we have $8m in cap space) and the Blues spend @ $14m. The cap in 2014 will likely be right about where it is this year. I'm not worried at all about fitting in Letang's salary and fielding a competitive D. In fact, the pipeline of young guys will start to pay off right about then, because it'll mean cheap talent.

marek wrote:I'd only trade Letang if you were able to package him along with extra overpaid baggage like Kennedy and in return get a scoring winger and a shut down Dman... so yes I'd take Eberle or Yakupov and Smid... but I think we could also use a bit of muscle on the third or fourth line too... a lot to ask

I think calgary is an option too... Letang and Kennedy for Iginla and Giordano

I don't think Edmonton or Calgary would have any interest in either of those deals at all. But I'm not Feaster or Tambellini.

Well Feaster's ineptitude did almost cost Calgary a bunch of draft picks for nothing, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility. :P

Why is everyone so quick to ship Letang away? I believe we could sign him for 6.5 M (3 M more than current salary), and still afford Malkin. The better option is to trade Martin or use our buyout (from new CBA, if necessary).

Everyone knows how great he has been this year but if it comes down to him or Letang, I choose Letang. Does no one agree with the below logic?

The chances of Letang being traded this season are extremely slim, IMO. The ONLY way I can see that happening is if someone offers Shero the moon. Beyond that, the only way I see it happening next year is if Letang either refuses to re-sign with us or if he asks for an absurd amount of money. Maybe you see it at some point down the line (talking years) if we have someone ready to fill his shoes... I don't see anyone able to do that right now.

I think the current system and lack of accountability (for veterans) is more to blame for his current recklessness than inability to dial it back. It would be short-sighted, and somewhat crazy IMHO to ship out someone with his talent now.